Orioles Select Jace Peterson’s Contract
The Orioles have selected the contract of utilityman Jace Peterson from Triple-A, as per a team announcement. Rio Ruiz was optioned to the minors earlier today, and no 40-man move was required since Baltimore had open space on its 40-man roster.
Signed to a minor league deal by the Orioles in the offseason, Peterson opted out of that deal on July 16, though he quickly re-signed a new minors contract just a few days later. Now, Peterson is headed back to the big leagues, which would mark his sixth season of MLB competition.
The 29-year-old Peterson was an everyday player for Atlanta in 2015 and has spent the last three years as a bench piece for the Braves, Yankees, and Orioles. Peterson originally joined Baltimore’s organization in April 2018 after being claimed off waivers from New York. While Peterson has only a .228/.318/.330 slash line over 1524 plate appearances in the Show, he brings a lot of defensive versatility to the table — Peterson has started at least one game at every fielding position except catcher, playing primarily as a second baseman and also seeing significant time as a third baseman and left fielder.
Astros To Activate Carlos Correa, Designate Tony Kemp For Assignment
The Astros will designate second baseman/outfielder Tony Kemp for assignment tomorrow in order to open a roster spot for Carlos Correa, Jake Kaplan of The Athletic tweets. Correa is set to return from the 60-day injured list after missing two months due to a broke rib.
Entering the season, the roster status of Kemp and Tyler White were both in question. Both players are out of minor league options and were rumored to be possible trade candidates as a result, but Houston opted to carry each on the roster for the first two thirds of the season. White, however, was designated for assignment recently and is reportedly headed to the Dodgers in a trade. Kemp, too, will lose his roster spot and now seems a logical candidate to be included in a trade for pitching help in the next six days.
Kemp, 27, has turned in a .227/.308/.417 batting line with seven homers, six doubles, two triples and four stolen bases in 186 trips to the plate so far in 2019. He’s a relatively high-contact hitter (career 16 percent strikeout rate) with a bit of speed and pop who is capable of handling second base and left field. His lack of minor league options may limit his appeal among some contending clubs, but the fact that he’s controlled for another four seasons will surely hold appeal to rebuilding clubs. It’s also possible that a contending team such as the Cubs, who are looking for a contact-oriented bat and recently optioned Addison Russell, could be intrigued by Kemp’s skill set.
The decision to cut ties with Kemp is seemingly a vote of confidence in the younger Myles Straw, who can occupy a similar role with a similar skill set moving forward. Straw has batted .256/.376/.321 in 94 plate appearances with the Astros this season and is capable of playing shortstop, second base or the outfield. Unlike Kemp, he also has minor league options remaining, which gives the Astros some additional roster fluidity down the stretch. Houston’s ability to manipulate its roster has been somewhat limited this season by virtue of carrying a pair of out-of-options players, but that won’t be the case any longer.
The return of Correa, of course, is a major boon to a lineup that already ranks as one of the game’s most fearsome. The former No. 1 overall draft pick was excelling to the tune of a .295/.360/.547 batting line and 11 home runs through 214 plate appearances at the time he suffered one of the most bizarre injuries of any player in recent memory. Correa sustained a broken rib while receiving a massage at his home, and the injury ultimately cost him 50 games of his season.
Dodgers To Acquire Tyler White
The Dodgers are acquiring corner infielder Tyler White from the Astros, Jake Kaplan of The Athletic reports (via Twitter). White, who is out of minor league options, was designated for assignment by Houston last week. The Dodgers are sending righty Andre Scrubb to the Astros in the trade, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports (Twitter link).
White, 28, was excellent for the Astros in a limited role from 2017-18 when he batted .277/.349/.531 with 15 homers, 18 doubles and three triples through 304 plate appearances. He was particularly a nuisance against left-handed pitching, slashing .299/.407/.642 in that time. White hasn’t done much against lefties or righties so far in 2019, though. Given a much larger role with the team, he’s managed only a .225/.320/.330 output at the plate. With the emergence of Yordan Alvarez and several injured Astros returning from the IL, there simply wasn’t room on the Houston roster for White.
The Dodgers recently lost a right-handed bat for the foreseeable future when Chris Taylor landed on the injured list with a fractured forearm. While White can’t match Taylor’s defensive versatility, he’s an affordable alternative with .780 OPS (112 wRC+) against left-handed pitching. And with so many other versatile defenders on the roster, the Dodgers likely don’t mind White’s limited defensive skill set as much.
In Scrubb, Houston will acquire a 24-year-old right-hander who is in the midst of a solid season with Double-A Tulsa. The Dodgers’ eighth-round pick in 2016, he’s pitched to a 2.45 ERA with 10.6 K/9, 4.3 BB/9, 0.57 HR/9 and a 53.4 percent ground-ball rate in 47 2/3 innings of work. He’s yet to pitch at the Triple-A level, but Scrubb has a 2.34 ERA and better than 10 punchouts per nine innings in 57 career frames at the Double-A level, suggesting that he could be a near-term bullpen option for the Astros — if not late in the 2019 season then at some point in 2020.
Tigers Sign Jake Thompson To Minor League Deal
The Tigers announced Thursday that they’ve signed right-hander Jake Thompson to a minor league contract. The former top prospect was originally a second-round pick by the Tigers back in 2012 and will now return to his original organization.
Detroit traded Thompson and then-prospect Corey Knebel to the Rangers back in 2014, netting righty Joakim Soria for their bullpen in that July 23 swap. Thompson continued on an upward trajectory in the Texas minor league ranks, so much so that he was viewed as a key piece when the Rangers flipped him to the Phillies a year later in the 2015 Cole Hamels blockbuster. (Remember when teams actually made trades in July? Nostalgia!)
Things never really panned out for Thompson in Philadelphia, however. The right-hander pitched in parts of three seasons from 2016-18 but managed a pedestrian 4.87 ERA with 6.3 K/9 against 4.7 BB/9 in 116 1/3 innings. Home runs, in particular, were a struggle for Thompson during his time with the Phillies, as evidenced by a career 1.5 HR/9 mark at the big league level.
Rather than pursue a minor league pact in free agency this winter, Thompson instead opted to sign with the Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization. There, he posted a 4.74 ERA with 8.6 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9 through 62 2/3 innings in the extremely hitter-friendly KBO environment. Lotte cut him loose last month, though, and he’ll now return stateside in attempt to once again pitch at the big league level.
Thompson, still just 25, certainly picked a good organization to give him that opportunity. The Tigers have lost Michael Fulmer, Matt Moore and, quite possibly, Tyson Ross for the season. There’s a chance that Matthew Boyd could be traded in the next six days, and it’s a near-certainty that closer Shane Greene will be on the move. Detroit has numerous vacancies in a patchwork rotation that has struggled all season, and the bullpen offers even more possible opportunities. Thompson hasn’t pitched since being released in late June, so the Tigers assigned him to Class-A Advanced to begin ramping back up. But it’s not unthinkable that if he performs even reasonably well in the minors, he could emerge as a possible big league option at some point in mid August or early September.
Yankees Acquire Brian Navarreto From Twins
The Yankees have acquired minor league catcher Brian Navarreto from the Twins in exchange for cash considerations, as first reported by Mariana Guzman (Twitter links). He’ll give the club some depth with Gary Sanchez on the injured list.
Obviously, this minor swap isn’t of the magnitude that most fans would hope with Major League Baseball’s trade deadline just around the corner, but adding some low-cost depth to help cover current injury troubles is a logical course of action for the Yankees. For the Twins, they have multiple minor league catchers ahead of Navarreto on the organizational depth chart.
Navarreto, 24, was Minnesota’s sixth-round pick back in 2012. He’s a quintessential glove-first backstop, as evidenced by a whopping 47 percent caught-stealing rate and consistently strong framing marks in his minor league career. He’s enjoyed a modest bump in power this season but has been a poor hitter overall — both in 2019 and throughout his minor league tenure. Navarreto is a lifetime .215/.265/.308 hitter in the minor leagues, including a lackluster .177/.229/.331 slash (five home runs, five doubles) in 140 plate appearances at the Double-A level this season.
Twins Designate Blake Parker For Assignment
The Twins announced that they’ve designated right-hander Blake Parker for assignment. His spot on the roster will go to veteran righty Carlos Torres, who signed a minor league contract last month and will have his contract selected from Triple-A Rochester. Minnesota has also optioned right-hander Kohl Stewart to Rochester and recalled lefty Devin Smeltzer in his place.
Parker, 34, was non-tendered by the Angels last fall despite putting up a 2.90 ERA in his two seasons there. The Minnesota org scooped him up for a $1.8MM guarantee. There were a series of roster bonuses that kicked off beginning 130 days into the season, a point less than two weeks away. While the Twins won’t owe any of the extra contemplated cash, they’ll be on the hook for the remainder of the salary unless another club takes over the contract or partially offsets what is owed by eventually bringing Parker onto their roster at a league-minimum rate of pay.
Though Parker seemed a reasonable risk for that rate of pay, he was probably miscast from the outset as a part of the team’s closer mix. He did pick up ten saves before being elbowed out of the ninth for good. Befitting a club that is turning over relief arms at a rapid pace in advance of the trade deadline, Parker was still trusted to work the eighth of a tight game just days ago.
After picking up a hold on Saturday against the A’s, Parker owned a 3.25 ERA on the season. But he was shredded for four earned runs while recording just one out yesterday, in what was in all likelihood his final appearance for the Twins this year. That left Parker with a cumulative 4.21 ERA through 36 1/3 innings on the season. The peripherals never inspired much confidence. He’s carrying 8.4 K/9 against 4.0 BB/9 with seven long balls on the ledger. As it did last year, Statcast identified a worrying volume of hard contact. The batted-ball profile indicated that Parker has actually been somewhat fortunate (.333 wOBA vs. .360 xwOBA).
The 36-year-old Torres is back in the bigs once again after forgettable and brief stints in each of the past two seasons. He’s a ten-year MLB veteran but hasn’t had a full and effective campaign since 2016. Torres has been generating good outcomes this year at Triple-A, though, with a 2.79 ERA in 48 1/3 frames at the top affiliates of the Tigers, Padres, and Twins.
Tigers Select Drew VerHagen
The Tigers announced that they’ve optioned lefty Daniel Stumpf to Triple-A Toledo following today’s game and will select the contract of righty Drew VerHagen to start tomorrow’s contest. To open a spot on the 40-man roster, Detroit transferred catcher Grayson Greiner to the 60-day injured list.
VerHagen is no stranger to the Tigers. The 28-year-old was their fourth-round selection back in 2012 and spent the 2014-16 seasons being optioned back and forth between Toledo and Detroit as a depth piece. He’s been designated for assignment twice in the past couple of years but remained with the club after clearing waivers on each instance. He’ll now rejoin the club for the first time since last being outrighted in early May.
Earlier this season, VerHagen was clobbered for 10 runs in just six innings of work, but he’s posted much better results in his return to Triple-A. Through 53 frames with the Mud Hens, he’s worked to a 4.42 ERA with 8.7 K/9, 2.2 BB/9, 0.85 HR/9 and a 40.4 percent ground-ball rate. His return to the Tigers could be short-lived, as Detroit’s rotation and bullpen are both in constant states of flux this season while their rebuild trudges on. Then again, with the Tigers likely to deal at least one arm (Shane Greene) and possibly some others (Matthew Boyd, Joe Jimenez, Buck Farmer) in the next week, it’s possible that there’s room for VerHagen to stick around beyond tomorrow’s spot start.
Braves Designate Shane Carle For Assignment
The Braves announced Wednesday that they’ve designated right-hander Shane Carle for assignment in order to open a 40-man roster spot for righty Jeremy Walker, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Gwinnett. Right-hander Wes Parsons was optioned to Gwinnett to clear a spot on the 25-man roster.
Carle, 28 next month, is only months season removed from a 2018 season that saw him finish the year with a 2.86 ERA in 63 innings of work, although he looked quite unlikely to repeat that production moving forward. Carle averaged just 6.1 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9 last season, surviving in large part due to a deflated .258 average on balls in play and excellent fortune in terms of home runs allowed (0.29 HR/9, 4.2% HR/FB).
Carle’s end-of-season numbers were buoyed by a particularly hot start to the season; however, after posting a 0.69 ERA in his first 26 innings, the righty came down to Earth with a 4.38 ERA and an unpalatable 24-to-21 K/BB ratio in his final 37 innings of work.
This season has been a particularly ugly one for Carle. In 9 1/3 big league innings he’s allowed 10 runs, walked nine batters and hit three more while striking out just six. His Triple-A results haven’t been much more encouraging, as he’s limped to a 5.13 ERA with 8.4 K/9, 3.8 BB/9 and a 46 percent ground-ball rate. To Carle’s credit, he’s had the BABIP pendulum swing the other direction against him with Gwinnett, as he’s seen hitters bat .356 on balls put into play against him. He’s still limiting homers (0.54 HR/9) in amid talk of juiced balls in one of the most hitter-friendly seasons the International League has ever seen.
Carle has an option remaining beyond the 2019 season, so a club in need of some bullpen help could certainly take a look at him as middle relief depth. The Braves will spend the next week trying to trade him but could also try to pass him throughout outright waivers (although last season’s success and the remaining option make him a decent bet to be claimed).
As for Walker, 24, he carved up Double-A opponents this season before a brief 11-inning stopover in Gwinnett. The 2016 fifth-round pick is now slated to make his MLB debut on the heels of 69 2/3 innings of 2.84 ERA ball and a 71-to-8 K/BB ratio between Double-A and Triple-A.
Royals Release Wily Peralta
July 24: Peralta has cleared release waivers and is now a free agent, per a club announcement.
July 22: The Royals announced that they have requested unconditional release waivers on right-hander Wily Peralta. He’d been designated for assignment over the weekend.
Peralta, 30, has pitched to an ugly 5.80 ERA with a similarly unsightly 24-to-19 K/BB ratio in 40 1/3 innings this season. He’s been tagged for seven home runs on the year and seen his fastball velocity drop from an average of 96.2 mph in 2018 to 94.4 mph in 2019.
Peralta did post a 3.67 ERA through 34 1/3 innings in his first season with Kansas City in 2018. However, the former Brewers hurler also averaged an untenable 6.0 walks per nine innings pitched with unfavorable ratings from fielding-independent metrics (4.73 FIP, 4.66 xFIP, 4.67 SIERA). That didn’t deter the Royals from bringing him back for a second season at a guarantee of $3.25MM. He’s still owed just under $847K of this year’s $2.25MM base salary in addition to a $1MM buyout on a 2020 mutual option.
That salary obligation and this year’s poor results make him a sure thing to clear release waivers and become a free agent on Wednesday. At that point, he’ll be free to sign with any club and will only be owed the prorated portion of the league minimum for any time spent in the Majors. The Royals will remain on the hook for the rest of his salary and the option buyout.
Braves To Select Contract Of Jeremy Walker
The Braves will select the contract of right-hander Jeremy Walker, per MLB.com’s Mark Bowman (via Twitter). Walker will be activated for tonight’s contest, taking the place of optioned righty Wes Parsons.
Walker put himself on the MLB radar with a strong showing to open the year in the upper minors. Previously a starter, the former fifth-round pick has functioned in a multi-inning relief capacity this season.
The results have been fairly compelling. Through 69 2/3 innings over 26 total appearances, Walker carries a 2.84 ERA with 9.2 K/9 and just 1.0 BB/9. He has generated grounders on well over half of the balls put in play against him and allowed just a pair of homers this season.
While it seems Walker is well-positioned to take his first crack at the majors, and he’d have needed a 40-man roster spot next fall for Rule 5 protection, adding him now will certainly impact the number of slots the club has to work with as it tweaks its roster in advance of the trade deadline. Improving the back of the pen still seems like a priority. Whether the team will end up jettisoning some veterans and/or trading valuable youngsters from its 40-man remains to be seen.